Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched a plan to make Saudi Arabia a new open state in 2022. Salman, popularly known as 'MBS', had claimed that the death penalty had been abolished under the scheme, except in cases of murder.

But the number of executions this year shows that the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia is just as dire. Saudi Arabia has executed 330 people this year. This number is the largest in decades. 

According to Reuters, the current number of public executions is based on data collected by the human rights organization Reprieve. This data has been confirmed by the news organization Reuters. 

Saudi Arabia executed 172 people last year. Compared to the year 2022, the number is slightly less. In 2022, 196 people were sentenced to death. But this year's figures have gone up a lot.

MBS, who became the crown prince on June 21, 2017, under the social modernization policy, granted rights to women to watch sports in stadiums, give driver's licenses, go to movie theaters, watch musical programs, and travel abroad without parents. 

Saudi Arabia, which is one of the countries with the most lenient laws for women in the world, has seen some improvements under the leadership of MBS. However, Saudi conservative social organizations have been opposing such changes. They said that the morality of Saudi citizens will be corrupted due to such decisions.

MBS launched the 'Vision 2030' plan for political, economic, educational and cultural transformation in Saudi Arabia. Under the plan, Saudi Arabia is spending billions of US dollars to change its identity as a country with strict religious restrictions and human rights abuses. Lately, Saudi wants to transform itself into tourism and entertainment sector. 

Similarly, under MBS's 'Vision 2030' plan, the goal of making Saudi Arabia a global investment center is organizing the 2034 World Cup football. Saudi Arabia has taken the World Cup to be held after 10 years as an ambitious project.

Saudi Arabia is building 11 stadiums for the World Cup. Likewise, the Saudi government also aims to build modern infrastructure such as airports, roads, trains, and hotels. But Saudi Arabia is also very controversial in the matter of labor exploitation of foreign workers. 

International human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have said that the Saudi government has not stopped the exploitation of migrant workers and has not provided compensation. The Saudi government has not set a minimum wage for migrant workers.

The minimum salary specified at the time of hiring workers and the salary coming into the account are different. The Saudi government has also been criticized for not providing proper wages and service facilities to employers and forcing them to bear all the costs of going to Saudi Arabia for work. Saudi Arabia has denied allegations of human rights violations. Saudi officials say that such measures are necessary for national security. 

Saudi Arabia has executed more than 150 people for non-lethal crimes this year. Rights groups say this is against international law. Those executions were mainly related to the smuggling of the amphetamine-like drug Captagon from Syria under the leadership of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Such executions included those charged with non-lethal terrorism. In particular, rights groups say that such cases are used against those who participate in anti-government demonstrations. This year's total includes more than 100 foreign nationals from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. But the Saudi government's communications office did not provide further details, according to Reuters.

MBS has been targeting his opponents since taking power in 2017 by 'coup' at the palace. MBS has been accused of murdering Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Khashoggi was assassinated in the Turkish consulate in Istanbul.

After the incident, Saudi Arabia and its ruler MBS faced heavy condemnation from the international community. After Khashoggi's death, Western governments have long ignored Saudi Arabia and its rulers. US President Joe Biden said during the 2020 presidential election campaign that he would isolate Saudi Arabia from the international community. But in 2022 he visited Saudi Arabia. 

The US said that Saudi Crown Prince MBS had instructed to kill Khashoggi. In a report by the American intelligence agency "CIA", it was mentioned that MBS gave permission to arrest or kill the exiled journalist Khashoggi. "Our assessment is that Crown Prince Salman gave permission for the Intanbul operation, the purpose of which was to capture or kill journalist Khashoggi," the report said. 

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the CIA's claim and said that the report was "brought to be insulting and wrong in the Khashoggi murder case". This report is fake. 

We have already made it clear that Khashoggi's murder is a serious crime committed in violation of Saudi law, the statement issued by the ministry said. Khashoggi, who is considered a staunch critic of the Saudi monarchy, was assassinated on October 20, 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

He went to the embassy to get the necessary documents to marry his Turkish girlfriend, Hatiz Cengiz. Although it was seen in the CCTV footage of entering the embassy, ​​it was not seen to come out. 

It was said that Khashoggi reached Khashoggi after the then Saudi ambassador to America, Prince Khalid bin Salman, received documents at the Saudi embassy in Istanbul and provided security to go there. But Khalid said he had no contact with Khashoggi.

Saudi Arabia says Khashoggi was killed by an evil group. Crown Prince MBS said in 2019 that he would take responsibility for the Khashoggi assassination as the Saudi leader, but he did not direct it. "If such a crime is committed against a Saudi citizen by its own officials, I must take responsibility as a leader," he said.

18 people were arrested for Khashoggi's murder. Five of them were sentenced to death by a court in Saudi Arabia. Three people were sentenced to 24-24 years in prison. Later, their death sentence was commuted to 20 years imprisonment.

MBS advisor Saud Al-Khatani was questioned about the incident, but no charges were brought against him. In 2019, United Nations High Commissioner Agnes Kelmard claimed that the Saudi government had planned the assassination of Khashoggi and said that the legal action taken against the accused was unjustified.

Khashoggi was once an adviser to the Saudi royal family. But suddenly after the relationship broke down, he was in exile in America since 2017. Writing a column in the Washington Post there, he criticized the policy of the Saudi crown prince. Rights groups say that Saudi Arabia has also sentenced minors to death and tortured them to confess their crimes. 

For decades, the Saudis carried out weekly executions by beheading in public places or on the streets. But there is no sign of the bloody history of the past. Lately, cafes and restaurants are operating in those places.

"Repression is getting worse, but you can't see it," Amnesty International researcher Dana Ahmed told Reuters. Relatives of those who were executed did not want to be named due to security concerns. Some of them said they faced difficulties in the Saudi legal system, according to Reuters. 

Relatives of a foreign national arrested on drug charges say the executed man was caught fishing off the coast and has no lawyer or representation in Saudi Arabia. Similarly, a family member of another defendant said that despite appearing in the criminal court for more than three years, no evidence was found against him.